Regrets
by XxNeonShadowsxX
Summary: Things were supposed to be easier now. But Danny can't help but wish things would go back to the way they were.


**A/N **I didn't really like the ending of Danny Phantom all that much...so, with help from my rabid plot bunnies, came up with a way to fix it. Hope you enjoy!

**Disclaimer** Nope, don't own Danny Phantom...or anything, really.

-Aiva

* * *

"Hide me!" Danny yelped, tumbling intangibly through Sam's wall and then flinging himself behind her bed. He hadn't been having the best day. Not only was his dad trying to "help" him fight ghosts, but he apparently had a lot of rabid fans as well. And they had been chasing him. All day. Sam glanced at him, fighting a grin. "Danny, unless they can go through walls too, I think we're safe," she replied. Noticing the amused note in her voice, the halfa shot her a look. "Not funny, Sam," he muttered. "They've been after me all day."

"Well, you didreveal your identity to the whole world…" Sam pointed out.

"I forgot about them_,_" Danny groaned, gesturing outside. You could still clearly hear the sounds of obsessed fans outside, and Danny groaned again. "C'mon, it can't be _that _bad," Sam said. Danny raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. "They tried to break into my house. At 3 am. Then they followed me _all day._ And don't get me started on my dad. He's convinced that he can help me fight ghosts. All that happened was I ended up in the Fenton thermos again."

Sam fought the urge to grin even as she gave him a sympathetic look. The image of Danny stuck in a thermos was still funny, despite the obvious lack of amusement the half-ghost felt. "I can't take it anymore!" Danny burst out suddenly. "I thought maybe things would be easier, you know? I just saved the world; I deserve a break. But no, I had to go and reveal my identity to the whole world, and now no one will leave me _alone!" _His words had grown in volume, until they were finally a shout.

Sam placed a hand on his shoulder. "Look, I know it's bad – " she began, but was cut off.

"No, you don't know!" Danny interrupted, frustration clear in his eyes. Sam shot him a look, and then continued. "But I think I might be able to help." The silence that followed was so heavy that Danny was sure he could reach out and touch it.

"How?" he asked simply.

Sam pulled out a book, flipping through the yellowed pages. "I've been doing some research," she began. "I could tell it was bugging you, so I wanted to see if there was any way to change what happened." Danny let out a snort of disbelief.

"Yeah, because we can just hop on a time machine and go back and change the past," Danny responded sarcastically. And Clockwork certainly wouldn't help. Sam shot him another look, the death glare shutting him up immediately. "Remember the Reality Gauntlets?" she asked.

Danny nodded, still looking skeptical. "Yeah. But I destroyed them, remember? What do they have to do with anything?" Sam shook her head, starting to look a bit more enthusiastic.

"Danny, what if you _can't_ destroy them?" she asked quickly. "Think about it; the Gauntlets can control reality. Why should you be able to destroy them?"

"Sam, I saw them. They were vaporized."

"No, they weren't! The Gauntlets have a failsafe. If someone tries to destroy the, the gems just transport to someplace else. If they're brought together again, the Gauntlets reform," Sam explained.

"Are you sure?" Danny asked, looking less and less skeptical by the second. Sam nodded. "Positive," she responded.

"Then where do we find the gems?" Danny asked. Sam hesitated. "…I don't know," she admitted. Danny frowned. "You come up with all of this, but you don't even know where to find the gems?" he said, a bit angrily. He had finally been given a way out of all of this, only to have it ripped away from him.

"At least I figured out this much!" Sam snapped back. "That's more than you can say!" Danny opened his mouth to respond, eyes blazing with frustration, but the doorbell rang. Danny paled slightly; he bet he knew who that was. "Mr. Fenton is here!" Sam's mom then called. Though she still didn't like him, necessarily, he did have a son that saved the world, so now it was more of disgust that outright dislike.

Danny leapt up, already hovering above the ground, prepared to take off. "Darn it!" he muttered, anger forgotten in the face of an orange-suited danger. "Sam, I gotta go," he said quickly. Sam, still a bit angry, crossed her arms. "What about your dad?" she asked.

"Just tell him you don't know where I am!" Danny said, a pleading note coming into his voice. He was obviously desperate to get away from his dad, and his "help". Sam, seeing the look in her friend's eyes, softened somewhat, and nodded reluctantly. "Fine. But try to – " she was cut off as Danny flew through her ceiling.

Sam groaned as she walked out of her room, bracing herself for the encounter with Jack Fenton. Sometimes, she couldn't help but notice she really didn't like Danny.

* * *

Getting out was a relief. Invisible as well as intangible, the obsessive people on the ground couldn't see him. He was free to escape, at least for a little while. But even as he felt the satisfying pleasure of flying bubble up within him, Danny couldn't help but feel that he was running from a net that was waiting to ensnare him, soon to tangle him up. The halfa shook off the feeling, contenting himself with the fact that at least he was getting away from it for a little while.

At first, the hero worship had been fun. Dating Sam officially didn't hurt either. But it was soon getting old. Not Sam – Danny hoped he would never get tired of seeing her, even if she was in a bad mood sometimes. But everything else was tiring, a constant thing weighing down on him until he had forgotten what it was like to be unburdened. Danny, now above the low clouds, allowed himself to flicker back into visibility, deciding quickly no one could see him up here. They were on the ground after all.

That soon changed as the familiar chopping sound of a helicopter ripped through the previously peaceful air. Danny quickly turned to see a News helicopter trailing him, focusing on him and zooming closer, almost like an insect. _Oh, crud, _he thought to himself. _Not again. _Even the simple joy of flight was tainted now.

Danny angled himself into a steep dive, hurtling towards the ground at an impressive speed. Close to the tops of the trees, he pulled up, and then turned invisible. Hopefully, that would be enough to lose them. It was, as the sound of the helicopter grew more distant. Breathing a sigh of relief, Danny landed on the ground lightly. It seemed to be a fairly secluded area, just on the outskirts of town. Maybe here, he could finally cool off and think things through.

_"Danny, what if you can't destroy them?" _The question replayed repeatedly in the half-ghost's head. If Sam was right on this, then maybe Danny wouldn't have to deal with this anymore. He liked being able to be open with his family, sure. But his mom was being over protective, and his dad was trying to "help". Nothing seemed to be going right anymore, and Danny found himself wishing things would go back to the way they were before he had shifted in front of everyone.

Danny shot a small bolt of green energy at a nearby twig in frustration. Things were never simple in his life, where they? First, it was getting ghost powers, struggling to hide them from a family he was afraid might not accept him like that. Then it was dealing with controlling those powers. Then Vlad had to come into all of this, becoming Danny's nemesis. And now Danny didn't even have a secret identity to fall back upon any more. Everyone knew who he was. …Yeah, things never were simple.

The halfa sighed. He should probably go apologize to Sam and head home before his mom got too overprotective and worried. Danny reluctantly took off, the cool breeze feeling soothing against his face as he flew. He should be going in the direction that would lead him closer to his house, but found himself just heading away, wanting to hold on to this feeling of quiet and solitude for a little while longer. Because Danny knew that it wouldn't last.

Finally, an hour or so later, face stinging from the constant wind, Danny decided to head back home. Besides, it was beginning to get dark. Ghost powers weren't a good enough excuse to not have a curfew, apparently. Flying back to town, he eventually landed in his room, simply going through the ceiling rather than bothering with the door.

He sat down on his bed, still thinking about what Sam had said. It did make sense; if the Gauntlets could control reality itself, why should a simple ray of ghostly energy destroy them? And he had already seen that the gems could be transported somewhere else if necessary. Maybe there was hope things could change after all.

* * *

**A/N **Blegh, sorry for the cruddy ending. I'll try to end upcoming chapters a bit more nicely. Anyways, please click below! You know you want to...just do it. ;) Reviews are greatly appreciated!


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